4/1 Workout

*Standard disclaimer: Do not substitute my advice for that of a doctor. Talk to your doctor first before beginning any exercise program. If you hurt yourself during a workout, that's your fault, not mine.*

So it looks like this is turning more into a food based website, but that makes sense to me because I love food.....a lot. Anyways, here is what I did for a quick workout today before heading into work. For those of you who care, I was about 15 hours fasted when I worked out. It wasn't intentional, but I wasn't hungry after I woke up, so I skipped breakfast. As time was limited, I decided to do a couple of different Tabata exercises to get in a quick 15 minutes of exercise. For those of you who don't know, Tabata is basically performing an exercise for 20 seconds at top intensity and then resting for 10 seconds for 8 cycles. It's a form of High Intesity Interval Training (HIIT). What I like about Tabata is that it gives you maximum gains for minimal input. Don't get me wrong with minimal input, the only thing minimal about a proper Tabata workout is the time put in. As I'm still getting back into the swing of things, I decided to use lighter resistance and just my body weight to keep from injuring myself. As for timing yourself, you can use a standard clock, but if you like gadgets (which I do) you can pick up a Gymboss (no, I don't get a kickback for sales). These things are perfect for interval training. You can set up any time intervals you want and the best part is the vibration function for an alarm so you don't have to take your headphones off while working out.

I began with 20 second barefoot sprints around a track. Barefoot running is yet another new trend I'm buying into. I'll get into that in a future post.

Next, I headed into the weight room for some deadlifts. When doing resistance Tabata training, it is absolutely crucial that you find the correct weight to use. To be frank, this is done mostly through trial and error. Today I chose to use a lighter weight of 115 so that I could really watch my form during the last couple of cycles as well as really work on explosive power. During my last workout I really noticed my back beginning to round out and felt that needed to be corrected. There is no shame in taking some plates off to maintain a safe form.

I finished off with 24" box jumps. Once again, you'll have to pick a box that is good for your particular fitness level. I was blessed with strong German keg carrying legs, so I can handle higher boxes more easily. Too bad that strength doesn't help with pull-ups, the bane of my existence.

That was it: 4 minutes of each exercise using Tabata timed cycles with minimal rest between each set. It's not a perfect workout, but if you're short on time, you'll definitely get some results for your 12-15 minutes of time.